A TOP fire officer claimed a high-flying female manager was "far too pretty to run a site meeting", an employment tribunal heard.

Michael Clement-Green, now the chief fire officer of Berkshire, made the comment to Karen Redman in a meeting, it was alleged.

Yesterday, Mr Clement-Green denied making the remark, which was allegedly made before he became chief fire officer, but admitted he had

apologised to Mrs Redman on a couple of occasions after he had hurt her feelings.

Mrs Redman, 39, who is the highest-ranking female in the brigade, is suing Royal Berkshire Fire Authority for both indirect and direct sex

discrimination.

She claims bosses have discriminated against her since she joined the brigade in 1993, and says she has seen male colleagues given career development grants, training and promotions which have been denied to her.

Mrs Redman, from Thatcham, still works at brigade HQ in Dee Road, Tilehurst, where she is the control room manager, earning £35,000 a year.

Her job involves managing the fire control building, staff and equipment and making sure firefighters are mobilised to go to emergencies.

Reading Employment Tribunal heard that in January 1999 Mrs Redman applied for £1,995 funding to do an NVQ level 5 in Operational Management at The University of Reading.

She was awarded the money and given paid study leave to do the course.

However, in June 2000 she applied for £7,190 to fund a Masters in Business Administration, also at Reading University.

Her request was turned down by a panel, which said there was not enough money available that year to pay for it.

The authority also said it believed the qualification would not assist Mrs Redman's career progression and would, in fact, probably help her leave the authority and get a job somewhere else.

When she told her boss she had already signed up for the course and paid for it out of her own savings and on a credit card, the brigade gave her a contribution of £1,000 towards it.

In July 2001, Mrs Redman applied for a temporary promotion to the post of senior technical officer, which was vacant as the post-holder was going on a course.

She failed to get the job and a male colleague who she says was less qualified and less experienced was appointed instead.

Mrs Redman said this was evidence of discrimination, but the brigade said she did not get it because she had never been a firefighter.

Mr Clement-Green said the job was one of 10 senior positions which required the post-holder to take control of incidents such as a fire or a crash on the motorway, and that Mrs Redman could never be considered for such a job.

Mrs Redman is currently in the highest position she can reach without being a senior officer.

Mrs Redman is also claiming that she was discriminated against after a member of her staff made a complaint against her and three of her colleagues, saying he had been bullied and harassed.